I know this is petty, we're better than that and it's a small victory. There is absolutely no way it's going to be enough, the season is an out of control train and beating one bad team counts for zero in real life.

Don't care. Whatever else happens, beat Calgary.

AS IT STANDS

The team is 1-5-0 at home, 3-8-2 on the road and 2-7-1 in their last 10. They have so many holes defensively the mind boggles, and the mood of the city is toxic. Into that atmosphere the Oilers have to score early, get the crowd behind them and improve that home record in a big way.

The two teams (Calgary and Edmonton) are both 2-7-1 in the last 10, and the Oilers can close the gap to three points tonight (Calgary will have two games in hand). Their first 10 games (3-6-1) were better than the next nine games (1-7-1 entering tonight) but it's also true tonight's game is only their 7th at home all season. That could make a difference if they take advantage of last change, and the Rexall crowd needs to cheer like mad, too.

COME ON, MAN

The goals for is no screaming hell, but that GA total is ghastly. If the Oilers are going to get anything done this season--and we're not asking for much--then the goals against total must go down. At their current pace, the club is on track to allow 324 goals, the highest total for an Oilers team since 1992-93, their black hole season.

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME, LATELY

The offense lost both Taylor Hall and David Perron for extended periods during the last 10 games, and Justin Schultz was ineffective/injured. Oilers used 28 position players during the last 10 games.

Holy mackerel, that's a lot of goals against!

WHAT DOES IT ALL MEAN?

This team needs to focus on the detail work, the defensive chores, the scut work. They need to catch Calgary. After that, they can find another target.

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The hounds should have been unleashed already. Why there isn't more criticism of Eakins astounds me. The guy doesn't admit he makes mistakes, hasn't adjusted his coaching style to the teams he plays, is making very questionable line combinations, etc. etc. This team is going nowhere with him as coach.

Trading one of the few defensemen we had that would block shots (Smid) in return for the proverbial bag of pucks/prospect makes one wonder about MacT's judgement.

Lowe should have been long gone.

Calgary at least plays a system and works hard and the only question is whether Calgary or Edmonton finish last in the Division. My bet is that as long as Eakins is coach, it will be Edmonton.

As to Yak, he will be great in time, but unfortunately not here with the coach we have.

Seven years of hell, still searching for a bottom. At this point, the only real interest for me is trying to imagine what it is going to look like. Every time I think we've hit it, we go through another trap door.

Hated the Evil ones in Calgary forever. Hated seeing Flames flags in Edmonton during the Flaming idiots pre salary cap cup run. My bitterness and jaded view now has me hoping they turn it around before the Oilers as long as six-rings runs the oilers.

WTF..Does Eakins ever look engaged in the game ? For whatever reason this guy shows no emotion or leadership on the bench, no damn wonder the players are disconnected, they're struggling and this dude just looks at the roof ? How the hell did he ever get hired, bad call Mac T ..I hoped he'd really help the young guys, how well is that working for us ....Looks like we're pitching another home ice shutout..going to bed, screw it.

If Yak is this Frustrated and Upset over the debauchery of the past shortened season and first 20 games... then after living 4 years of this joke, how much longer till Hall, Ebs, & RNH "privately' chats with MacT and informs him they too are looking to get the heck out of this nightmare.

Since scoring the opening goal against the Habs a few weeks ago the Oil have been outscored on home ice by a 20-1 margin. Surely that must be some kind of record. The Habs scored the next 4, and since then the boys have lost 4-1, 4-0, 5-0 and 3-0 (to the Caps, Leafs, Wings and Stars) in front of their long suffering home fans. The only goal, for trivia buffs, was scored by Justin Schultz in front of a half empty building with just over 2 minutes left against the Caps, who were up 4-0, so there was only a ripple of polite applause. That consolation marker is the only chance season ticket holders have had to cheer in 4 games and two periods.

Like my buddy, Doug the Slug, I have been going to Oil games since the late WHA days and this is easily the lowest point I have experienced. There is no simple solution as the problems begin at the top and go right through the organization. The worst defence corps in the league, the worst team save percentage, The worst defensive coverage I have ever seen, the least physical players ever on an Oiler team, A total lack of gritty goals, abominable coaching from Eakins and the assistants, a gift by MacT of Smid to Calgary for essentially nothing and on and on and on.

This is a train wreck. When Dubnyk is hot, like tonight, we can't score. When the boys are scoring he can't stop a beach ball. We obviously have a terrible mix of skills on our top two lines and desperately need at least one legitimate top pairing D man and there are none in sight. Klefbom is hardly tearing up the AHL and Nurse looks very promising but at best will be a difference maker in a few years, and you can't even count on that.

As a long time season ticket holder I have no plans to stop coming to the games, but it increasingly feels like I am paying a pretty good price to suffer. I missed the Jersey game, so I haven't even seen a win. I have a friend who comes to a fair amount of games and hasn't seen a win since the 2011-12 season. Honest. Obviously major, major changes are necessary but where do you begin? Kevin Lowe. Yes. Eakins? Yes. All the assistant coaches? Yes. MacT is in trouble, but for now at least should get to stay but the entire league is licking their chops to deal with him, knowing he is desperate and has no leverage. Plus our recent first overall pick is eyeing greener pastures and maybe even the KHL.

Can it get any darker? I don't know. I think when you start gauging the top players in the upcoming draft before the first month of the season is over you must have hit bottom. Sorry for venting but that's all we have left right now. This too shall pass, but God only knows when.

I hope Calgary kicks our ass Saturday night- I want to keep losing until Lowe Eakins Bucky and smith are gone-now we can't score- beg forgiveness to Krueger and fire Eakins for a start, it is obvious he is not a NHL caliber coach

How pathetic this is all we have come to expect in November. To beat Calgary and finish ahead of them. Sorry guys, got news for you, it's not gonna happen. The Flamers are already on their way with an actual " rebuild" and unlike our over-paid stars they play a full 60 minutes of hockey and actually COMPETE!! Dallas you need to watch one of their games so that whatever bs you preach about accountability and competing actually matches the bs that comes out of you. I actually hope Calgary beats us bad so we can get this blown up once and for all.

Rightly or wrongly, not playing Yak on that 5 on 3 has, I suspect, finished thd relationship between Eakins and the #1 pick. That would have been a perfect opportunity to perhaps get Yak going, show some trust/respect and prove that the past was not personal. Bad, bad judgement by Eakins.

Eakins CAN fuc% right off with the all mighty bullship.How in the hell your special teams can go from top five to bottom of the fu&$in league is beyond me.Time to put your fu%#in ego aside and keep what worked last year.But as long as you got a FU@KIN ego maniac running the show whats going to change.

You have to remember, Eakins knows it all! He is an AHL calder cup winning coach! Clearly he is a great NHL coach with his 4-13-2 record and a 20 year old 1st-overall on the verge of being driven out of town!

Going to Rexal right now is sort of like going to a funeral. Nothing but silence and denial of the events that have unfolded. When you yell something about the players being soft from the nose bleeds all of the players hear, but rather than stepping up their game they just fade away.

I was at the Detroit game and it was embarassing watch Yaks getting picked on near the end of the game by Smith. Rather than have the players stand up for each other, they left Yaks on his own. Not one Oiler on the ice even skated near the infraction. Hemsky and Petry and more were on the ice for that play. Of course Acton fought Smith after he got out of the box, but that was even sadder than having no response at all.

The moral of the story is they don't stand up for each other, they don't play for each other, they play for themselves.

And the only player who shows any gumption was just traded...wait for it...to the Calgary Flames.

for the media saying the oilers shouldn't just make a trade for the sake of making a trade.... screw that. 7-8 years of losing is long enough. make a trade. make it a big one, you can't be afraid to fail. try something. just go for it.

Imagine what is going through Darnell Nurse's head. I can't imagine he is to excited to start his NHL career in the NHL's equivalent to American Horror Story!!! Poor kid, so much potential and a talent sucking organization run by a circus clown!!!

If the Oilers lose to Calgary, I expect that will be the game that finally unleashes the hounds.(seasons ticket holders)

Going to Rexal right now is sort of like going to a funeral. Nothing but silence and denial of the events that have unfolded. When you yell something about the players being soft from the nose bleeds all of the players hear, but rather than stepping up their game they just fade away.

I was at the Detroit game and it was embarassing watch Yaks getting picked on near the end of the game by Smith. Rather than have the players stand up for each other, they left Yaks on his own. Not one Oiler on the ice even skated near the infraction. Hemsky and Petry and more were on the ice for that play. Of course Acton fought Smith after he got out of the box, but that was even sadder than having no response at all.

The moral of the story is they don't stand up for each other, they don't play for each other, they play for themselves.

Yup. True that. 100% correct. Here here. Yak is a trigger man. The gunslinger. Coaches are there to find the best fit, use what they've got. I understand that many of our players need to develop but they're just being ran into the ground. Eakins is trying to turn them into something they're not.

@pouzar99.....you and the rest of the fans must have a high tolerance for pain because, as a tier 2 fan, sitting at home watching the Oilers is torture enough....I can't even begin to imagine what it must be like to sit there in the stands, night after night, watching a team that has clearly quit on yet another coach!

We have been weighed, measured, and at best we offer Mild Competition. My buddies down the QE2 just feel bad for us now. I go to the game expecting a funeral atmosphere. I have noticed that when leaving the games, the fans are looking more and more like zombies. More often than not hearing the " why do we even bother showing up" comments.